176 MAMMALIA—COUGAR. 
THE PUMA, OR COUGAR. 

Tue puma, cougar, or American lion, is from four to five feet long, but 
more commonly of the former size, and has a tail of half that length, which 
has not, like that of the lion, a terminating brush of hair; neither has the 
pumaamane. Indeed, his name of lion could only have been given to him 
by careless or unscientific observers, as his uniform sameness of color is the 
sole point of resemblance which he has to the king of beasts. He hasa 
small rounded head, a broad and rather obtuse muzzle, and a body which, 
in proportion, is slender and less elevated than that of his more dignified 
namesake. ‘The upper parts of his body,” says Mr Bennett, “are of a 
bright silvery fawn, the tawny hairs being terminated by whitish tips: be- 
neath and on the inside of the limbs he is nearly white, and more com 
pletely so on the throat, chin, and upper lip. The head has an irregular 
mixture of black and gray; the outside of the ears, especially at the base, 
the sides of the muzzle from which the whiskers take their origin, and the 
extremity of the tail, are black.” The fur of the cubs has spots of a darker 
hue, which are visible only in certain lights, and disappear when the animal 
is full grown. Both the sexes are of the same color. 
The puma* was once spread over the whole wide extent of the new 
world, from Canada to Patagonia. The progress of civilization has, how- 
ever, circumscribed his range, and has rooted him out in many places. 
Notwithstanding his size and strength, he is cowardly ; and, like almost all 
cowards, he is sanguinary. Ifhe find a flock of sheep unprotected, he will 

1 Felis concolor, Lin. 
* It is not now common, in any part of the United States, except the unsettled districts 
It is usually called the panther, or painter, by the common people. It is also called the 
catamount. 
* 
